California’s minimum wage landscape continues to evolve two times each year. The statewide rate will rise to $16.90 per hour for all employers on January 1, 2026.  Many cities and counties enforce local minimum wage ordinances that exceed that rate.

To keep track of interim updates, see the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education.

For employers with remote employees in multiple jurisdictions, different minimum wage rates may apply based on each worker’s location. To streamline compliance, some employers choose to pay the highest applicable minimum wage across all locations.

Covered employers are required to conspicuously post the applicable wage notice(s), available by the links above.

See also:

• Find Out What’s New in 2026 For a Happi(er) New Year – Annual Virtual Seminar for Employers (November, 2025)
• Team Building Foundation – Workplace Policy Handbook & Forms for 2026 (October 2025)
• California New Minimum Wage Rates Take Effect in July (June 19, 2025)

Helena Kobrin
Daniska Coronado
December 19, 2025

A company year-end holiday party celebrates wins and brings people together. It can also spark complaints or liability if treated like “anything goes.” Host it with warmth, clear expectations, and smart planning.

DO:

• Keep it inclusive. Use “year-end celebration” language. Choose a setting and activities that welcome different cultures, faiths, and comfort levels.
• Make it truly optional. Skip manager pressure, attendance tracking, or anything that links the party to advancement.
• Set expectations in advance. Send a short note: policies apply, respectful conduct matters, and reporting channels remain open.
• For non-exempt employees, if attendance is required (or effectively required), treat time as compensable, including overtime when applicable.
• Prohibit alcohol consumption. The employer can face exposure when alcohol fuels injuries or misconduct at a company event. If you offer alcohol, use a professional bartender, limit service, avoid shots or hard-liquor “rounds,” provide food and non-alcoholic options, and offer safe rides home.
• Keep leadership “on.” Management and executives set the tone. Tell them to model boundaries and step in early when behavior starts drifting.

DON’T:

• Let the party drift into after-hours chaos. “Unofficial” after-parties create the biggest problems, especially when leaders join in.
• Excuse inappropriate behavior as “holiday spirit.” Jokes, flirting and unwanted contact are never acceptable.
• Allow gift exchanges to get personal. Avoid romantic, sexual, or edgy gifts, or anything else that invites embarrassment or uneven treatment.
• Give star performers a pass. Consistent enforcement protects the company and the culture.

Take-Aways:

Keep the fun. Keep the guardrails. Plan with intention, lead with boundaries, and avoid January headaches.

For further information this holiday season, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• Find Out What’s New In 2026, For A Happi(er) New Year– Annual Virtual Seminar for Employers
• Team Building Foundation, Workplace Policy Handbook & Forms for 2026
• Chill Pill Protocol - Mandatory Sexual Harassment Prevention Training (August 1, 2025)

Cindy Bamforth
December 12, 2025

On Board of Field Enforcement investigation, California’s Labor Commissioner has cited Costco, Ryder Last Mile, and Mega Nice Trucking $868,128 for misclassifying truck drivers as independent contractors. Ryder subcontracts big box store deliveries, and subcontracts in turn to Mega.

The BOFE found that Mega wrongly classified the drivers as independent, and Mega’s attempt to relabel them from independent to employee was a distinction without difference. Mega continued to pay them a daily rate with no overtime and no meal premiums for missed meal breaks. Investigators also found falsified records.

The Labor Commissioner’s Office rolled the findings up to Costco and Ryder as joint employers for their scheduling deliveries, monitoring driver performance, requiring uniforms and designated protocols.

Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower noted: “Companies that exert control over workers cannot evade responsibility by hiding behind layers of subcontracting. Misclassification strips workers of their rights and protections, and employers who direct and control their workforce are responsible for paying all wages owed.”

The companies are appealing the citation, but if they lose, 58 delivery drivers will share $662,978 of the total amount.

Take-Aways:

Independent contractor status is not a matter of employer or employee choice. Management should consult employment counsel to confirm that classifying workers as contractors meets California’s strict criteria.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• Find Out What’s New In 2026 For a Happi(er) New Year – Annual Virtual Seminar for Employers
• Seemed Like a Good Idea: Home Care Outfit to Pay $2.3M for Misclassifying Caregivers as Independent Contractors (March 21, 2025)
• California’s Newest Independent Contractor Law Part I: Revamped Business-To-Business Exceptions (September 17, 2020)

Helena Kobrin
December 5, 2025

Effective this coming January 1, an employer will not be liable under the Fair Employment and Housing Act for in good faith seeking worker acknowledgment of personal bias as part of “bias mitigation training.” Government Code 12940.2

FEHA prohibits workplace discrimination, harassment, and retaliation over some 17 “protected classifications,” including race, gender and disability, empowering the Civil Rights Department to investigate and prosecute complaints. The Act also requires certain employers to provide anti-harassment and abuse prevention training. Best practices include employer initiatives to educate workers on anti-discrimination protections whether or not explicitly required by law.

Section 12940.2 defines “bias mitigation training” broadly to include training, education, and activities aimed at understanding conscious and unconscious thought processes and their impacts, and requires “specific strategies” to mitigate personal biases (e.g., assessments, workshops, toolkits, tracking mitigation efforts).

The law aims to promote full employee participation in such training, providing “assurances to both employees and employers … that the engagement necessary to make such trainings effective will not ultimately be used against them in a discrimination claim.”

Take-Aways:

A California employer should review policy and protocols to confirm the proper definition for its “bias mitigation trainings” and provide guidance that the protection applies only to good-faith acknowledgments of bias in the training context. Statements that admit or describe actual discriminatory acts remain fully usable in investigations and litigation.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• Boundaries 101 - California’s Anti-Discrimination Legislation (August 1, 2025)
• Local Government Workplace Discrimination Laws Coming (November 15, 2024)
• 72 Million Reasons Not to Mess with Women: Employer Agrees to End Widespread Sex Discrimination (February 16, 2024)

Tim Bowles
December 5, 2025

In 2021, California passed California Labor Code 2810.8, effective through 2024, requiring some hospitality and business service industries to give rehiring preference to workers laid off because of the pandemic. In 2023, the legislature extended that law through 2025.

AB 858 (October, 2025) further extends the rehire right to January 1, 2027. A covered employee is “[anyone] was employed by the employer for six months or more and whose most recent separation from active employment by the employer occurred on or after March 4, 2020, and was due to a reason related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The law applies to workers in airport or airport hospitality operations and to airport service providers, building services, event centers, hotels, and private clubs. Such employers must notify eligible workers of job openings and prioritize those with the longest service for rehire.

A covered employer must also maintain certain records on laid-off employees, including name, address, last job classification, phone number, notices of job openings sent to the individual and any communications with the employee concerning job offers.

The Department of Labor Standards Enforcement may require offending employers to pay affected employees certain front pay and backpay for the duration of the violation.

Take-Aways:

Employers in the covered industries must continue to extend rehire rights to workers laid off because of the pandemic through 2026.

For further assistance, please contact one of our attorneys, Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• For Happi(er) New Year - Annual Virtual Seminar for Employers (November 2025)
• Extended Comeback Rights: Hospitality Workers to Receive Longer Rehire Protection (November 2023)
• Comeback Trail: Hotels, Security Services and Others Must Offer Openings to Pandemic-Affected Former Staff (April 2021)

Helena Kobrin
November 28, 2025

California’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (CalWARN) Act -- the state’s “mini-WARN” -- expands the federal WARN Act and requires advance notice before major workforce reductions. Effective January 1, 2026, SB 617 requires employers to expand CalWARN notice content to help workers access retraining, community resources, and public benefits.

The WARN Acts: State vs. Federal

Both federal WARN and CalWARN require employers to give advance notice before major layoffs or closures. They differ, however, in which employers are covered and which events trigger notice.

The federal WARN Act covers employers with 100+ full-time employees, or 100 employees working a combined 4,000+ hours per week (excluding overtime). It is triggered by plant closings affecting 50+ full-time employees or mass layoffs involving either (i) 50+ full-time employees constituting at least 33% of the workforce, or (ii) 500+ full-time employees. Employers must provide 60 days’ notice to employees, union representatives, and designated state and local officials.

CalWARN applies to employers with 75+ employees (full- or part-time) during the prior 12 months. Mass layoffs of 50+ employees in 30 days, plant closures, or relocations of100+ miles trigger the law. Like the federal law, CalWARN requires 60 days’ notice, but also mandates notice to specific California agencies and local governing bodies.

California employers with 100+ employees must comply with both statutes.

SB 617: New Notice Requirements for 2026

CalWARN notices issued on or after January 1, 2026, must include:

• A statement indicating whether the employer will coordinate job-transition assistance for affected employees through (i) the Local Workforce Development Board (LWDB) (the regional authority overseeing retraining and job-placement services), (ii) another organization, or (iii) none;
• The LWDB’s contact information and this description: “Local Workforce Development Boards and their partners help laid off workers find new jobs. Visit an America’s Job Center of California location near you. You can get help with your resume, practice interviewing, search for jobs, and more. You can also learn about training programs to help start a new career;”
• A brief explanation of CalFresh’s food-assistance program including its helpline number and website; and
• A current employer email and phone number for employee inquiries.

Take-Aways:

Covered employers should verify current LWDB contact information and update layoff templates and procedures now to avoid last-minute compliance issues and to support a smoother transition for affected employees.

For further assistance, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin

See also:

• Personnel Records Access- Employee Rights Expanded (November 7, 2025)
• Fair Pay Full Disclosure – Compensation Protections Across All Pay Types (November 7, 2025)
• Annual Virtual for Employers – Save the Date

Cindy Bamforth
November 21, 2025

California Government Code 12999 mandates businesses with 100 or more employees on payroll and/or hired through labor contractors submit an annual pay data report to the Civil Rights Department (CRD) “[on] or before the second Wednesday of May …”

Similar to the federal “EEO-1” protocol, the CRD report must include the number of employees by race, ethnicity, and sex in ten job or occupation categories, including: (1) executive or senior level officials and managers; (2) first or mid-level officials and managers; (3) professionals; (4) technicians; (5) sales workers; (6) administrative support workers; (7) craft workers; (8) operatives; (9) laborers and helpers; and (9) service workers.

Effective January 1, 2026, Senate Bill 464 amends section 12999 to require:

• Demographic information an employer or labor contractor gathers for its reporting requirements must be collected and stored separately from employees’ personnel records; and

• On CRD request, mandatory court imposition of civil penalties with $100 per employee for first filing failure and $200 per employee for subsequent violations.

Effective January 1, 2027, SB 464 overhauls section 12999, expanding from the above ten to 23 far more focused occupation reporting categories.

Take-Aways:

Employers with at least 100 employees on payroll and/or hired through labor contractors should prepare for these new 2026 and 2027 reporting requirements.

For further assistance, please contact one of our attorneys, Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• Find Out What’s New In 2026; Fresh Year Near - Annual Virtual Seminar for Employers
• Pay Disparity: Gender Gaps Persist in Every Industry: Reporting Due May 8, 2024 (April 18, 2024)
• Payroll Data Reporting: May 8, 2024 Deadline for Companies with 100+ on Payroll (March 15, 2024)

Helena Kobrin
November 14, 2025

Seventh win in a row! Pasadena Weekly once again acknowledges us as the best firm in town. Thanks to everyone who voted and supported us. We continue to provide management trustworthy guidance through the rocks and shoals of California employment law.

Again, thanks.

Tim, Cindy, Helena and staff
November 14, 2025

Best of Pasadena winners seven years in a row.

Effective January 1, 2026, Senate Bill (SB) 642 expands California’s equal pay and pay-scale disclosure laws, strengthening pay-equity protections and transparency requirements.

California’s Equal Pay Act prohibits paying employees less for substantially similar work based on sex, race, or ethnicity. The state’s complementing Pay Transparency Law, effective 2023, requires employers with 15 or more on payroll to include pay ranges in job postings and bars the use of salary history in setting pay.

SB 642 revises both laws to increase compliance and enforcement requirements:

For all employers:

• Wages now include all forms of compensation, such as salary, overtime, bonuses, stock options, benefits, allowances, insurance, and expense reimbursements;
• Previously limited to two years (three if willful), recovery now extends to maximum six years compensation, with each unequal paycheck restarting the three-year statute of limitations filing period; and
• The term “sex” now covers all genders, including nonbinary and gender-nonconforming employees.

For employers with 15 or more on payroll:

• Pay scale must reflect a good-faith range the employer reasonably expects to pay at hire; and
• Employers must include that pay scale in job postings and provide it to employees upon request.

Take-Aways:

Employers should:

• confirm job posting pay ranges reflect actual hiring practices
• regularly audit total compensation (including bonuses and benefits) for consistency and equity
• train managers and hiring teams on the updated definitions and the salary-history ban; and
• continue to keep job title and wage-rate records for the duration of employment plus three years

For further assistance, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin

See also:

• Equal Pay Reporting - Substantial Penalties for Ignoring the May 14, 2025 Deadline (April 17, 2025)
• Employer’s Mandatory Show & Tell: New State Guidance on Pay Rate Transparency (January 13, 2023)
• For the Record: Sound Management Practices for Personnel Documentation (August 14, 2020)

Cindy Bamforth
November 7, 2025